


Sleep

by thegreendaleseven



Series: The Grand Adventure [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: M/M, Post-Games, Subtle Romance, asexual Ike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 14:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13660791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreendaleseven/pseuds/thegreendaleseven
Summary: Two mercenaries struggle to get off an island.





	Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> This fic took on a life of its own, but I enjoyed the ride it took me on. It was a short ride, but still, it was fun to write. Thank you to everyone who read the previous fic in this series! Also, I'm so sorry that I'm way too ace to write about someone being physically attracted to another person.

It took them over two weeks to find actual land.

 

Turns out what they arrived on—jumped on, being more appropriate—was just an island. While it was large, it took them eleven days to see it all. From the beach, they marched through the dense forest to find a small mountain. It was steep, and parts of it required climbing, but they made it to the summit at dusk. There were no clouds in the sky that night, so Ike and Soren spent the night on their bedrolls, side by side, no tent, staring at the stars. When they awoke, Soren’s head was on Ike’s shoulder, Ike’s head lightly leaning into his, headband askew. Ike’s arm was wrapped around Soren, keeping him close to his chest.

 

Soren woke up mere moments before Ike. In that brief time, he observed the sounds of birds flying past the mountain, the faint rustling of leaves on the trees below them. Nestled into Ike’s side, it was impossible not to notice the stench of Ike’s clothing—it had been days since they attempted to clean their clothes, and hiking the mountain was strenuous work—or to block out his snoring.

 

He couldn’t recall a time where he felt this content.

 

A cry from a crow startled Ike awake, his arm tightening around Soren. Soren heard the momentary quickening of his heart, felt his chest rise and fall as his breathing returned to normal.

 

Soren at up, thinking Ike might wish to do the same, and noticed what had been invisible in the night: a significant landmass in the distance. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of miles of coastlines; giant, jagged cliff sides. Perhaps this island was just a small part of something much larger.

 

“Now how do we get over there?”

 

Soren turned his head to look at Ike, who had managed to stand without him realizing. He turned back to look at the horizon.

 

“Maybe with your luck we’ll manage to find a ship,” Soren answered, a small smirk on his face.

 

“You’re so funny,” Ike replied, deadpan. “With my luck, we’ll be lucky to find a rowboat with a hole on the bottom.”

 

Rummaging through one of their packs, Soren handed Ike a piece of dried meat and an apple. “We’ll figure something out.”

 

\--

 

And they did.

 

It required a lot of trial and error. Swimming wasn’t an option. Even if Ike wanted to carry Soren on his back while he swam across the body of water, which Soren visualized but didn’t suggest, the land was simply too far away. There was no magical boat waiting to take them across. They would need to make something. Between the two of them, though, there was a limited degree of carpentry skill.

 

Ike scoured the beach while Soren dug through all their bags for anything that could be useful. Being stranded on an island was the worst-case scenario, but Soren felt no panic. This was an unusual situation for him to formulate a strategy, but he was confident they would figure something out, that _he_ would come up with something to get them off this island.

 

The only items Soren found that might be helpful were rope and a little bit of twine. Ike was heading back towards him, dragging a large piece of driftwood. In fact, it looked more like part of a ship that had been wrecked. Once Ike was in front of him, he dropped it and shook out his arms, stretching them. If it was that heavy, it should be sturdy enough to support them.

 

There was no extra room on their sad excuse for a raft. They carried their bags on their backs because there was nowhere else for them to go. Ike found two large sticks to use for oars. Ike shoved the raft off the shore and carefully hoisted himself on. They made slow progress as they figured out their rowing rhythm. The raft kept veering to Soren’s side. He was pulling his weight, but Ike was going a lot faster. Soren couldn’t help but glance over at Ike. His face was set in the determined state Soren had seen countless times. His biceps were flexed as he pulled his stick through the water. As always, Ike captivated him. Had his life gone differently, perhaps he would look at other men the way he looked at Ike, but, alas, he only thought of Ike this way. And while he might be thinking about how he wanted to be held in those arms again like he was this morning, he couldn’t help but also think about how quickly Ike’s body changed. In the last five years, Soren had grown only a couple inches while Ike had grown almost a foot. Soren’s body remained lean; Ike’s had bulked up with muscle. How would they look, standing next to one another, in another five years? Another ten?

 

A loud _crack_ startled Soren. He blinked rapidly, turning his head to see half of the raft floating away and Ike…

 

In the water, head emerging from the water, slightly coughing. He gently grabbed onto the raft with one hand, using the other to remove the bag he carried. He hefted the bag up to Soren.

 

“What happened?” Soren asked, taking the bag.

 

Ike wiped his face. “I shifted, put my knee down. Must’ve been too much weight. Do you think it’ll hold if I push us the rest of the way?”

 

Soren looked behind them, then turned his head to look at their destination. They were closer to it than the island. It would take a lot of effort, but it would take even more to go back.

 

“It will have to. Shall I help paddle?”

 

Ike nodded, and the two of them continued on in silence. With their combined efforts, they made it onto the beach as the sun began to set. Soren climbed off the raft as soon as the water came up to his knees. He managed to get all three bags to shore as Ike dropped the remnants of the raft onto the beach. He collapsed next to it and rolled onto his back, chest heaving. Soren set the bags down near him, fishing out a flask of water and dried meat. With no proper place to put them, he set them on Ike’s chest as he looked around for firewood. They wouldn’t be moving anymore tonight.

 

The beach was more of a small embankment that led to a forest. A road went through the middle, trees on both sides. Soren assumed a town or settlement could be found somewhere along it. He didn’t think too hard on it, focusing on gathering wood.

 

Ike was dozing when he returned, meat gone and flask half-empty. They would need to find a freshwater source soon, but that was a problem that could wait until tomorrow. It only took him a moment to start the fire, giving just enough light to see as the sun completely set. Soren laid out Ike’s bedroll next to him, and then set out his own on Ike’s other side. Soren took off Ike’s boots and then his own, and then his hair tie, lightly combing through his hair with his fingers. He would do it more extensively in the morning.

 

With a tired sigh, Soren leaned back onto his bedroll, closing his eyes, listening to the crackling of the fire. After a moment, he opened them, hearing a shift next to him. Looking over, Ike’s head was suddenly on his chest, arm going across his body. Soren froze, afraid to breathe, waiting for Ike to wake up and roll away. But he didn’t. Soren slowly relaxed, carefully wrapping his arm around him. Still, Ike slept. Soren could feel the thoughts from earlier returning—Ike aging at a far faster rate, Ike leaving him—but the weight of Ike’s arm on him grounded him, banished the thoughts. He was able to close his eyes and sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I really planned on the raft thing being a Noodle Incident, but it demanded to be written. Thank you for reading!


End file.
